1. Scope of Invention
This invention relates generally to table and beach umbrellas, and more particularly to an umbrella top formed of a plurality of separate elongated vanes or panels which are uniquely attached to one another to protect the umbrella top in wind.
2. Prior Art
Conventional table and beach umbrellas are susceptible to being upset and carried away, damaged or cause damage when strong gusts of wind are encountered. Various anchors, poles and other means of securing the elongated main umbrella pole are well known to at least partially deal with this problem. However, such anchoring means is quite dependent upon the surrounding support surface into which the anchor is positioned and may lead to damage to the main support pole itself.
Prior art teaches various attempts to provide a vented umbrella top to reduce the lifting forces and thus make them more wind resistant. However, most prior attempts do not effectively deal with the likelihood of the umbrella top becoming windborne, despite the fact that some of these attempts have become extremely complicated and inordinately heavy.
One successful attempt to answer this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,455 invented by O'Rear which provides a wind-resistant umbrella which has been shown to be effective, relatively economically manufacturable, light weight and inexpensive. This invention, however, relies upon extreme flexibility of the individual vanes or panels and a somewhat complex support structure including a rigid periphery to support the vanes while still allowing them to flex and twist in wind.
The present invention represents an improvement over the O'Rear umbrella by eliminating many of the more heavy and cumbersome structural members and further improving the strength and configuration of each of the vanes.